As Halloween doesn't exist in France, and takes place when we honour our dead, Anglo-Saxon fiction about this festival has always intrigued me. I read some of it when I was a teenager, and enjoyed it, but I have never felt like writing any.

Ron - We're basically looking for anything loosely related to Halloween, from a story that is simply creepy or scary, to one specifically about Halloween itself. We wanted to keep the requirements pretty open, as we haven't run contests like this before and wanted to get as many people involved as possible. If this is a success, I could see us running contests with narrower guidelines in the future.

Paul_Lulu wrote:Glad to hear some folks here are jumping into the writing contest!

Ron - We're basically looking for anything loosely related to Halloween, from a story that is simply creepy or scary, to one specifically about Halloween itself. We wanted to keep the requirements pretty open, as we haven't run contests like this before and wanted to get as many people involved as possible. If this is a success, I could see us running contests with narrower guidelines in the future.

"The Night Terror" has been entered and it's not for the faint of heart or those scared of the dark.

If the story doesn't frighten, disturb, or at the least have the reader wonder about the torments a soul can be subjected to, then I failed.

If it doesn't come across as something written by Poe, channelled by Cthulu, transcribed by a hungover exorcist, then related in a pub by a bard drunk on absinthe, then I need to start drinking some good wodka before I write.

Glad to see I'm in good company with Ron, though I'm not betting my offering is in the same class.

** Added 15:27 **

Hopefully I formatted the PDF correctly, as I don't normally write short stories.

Try thinking of being subtle while passively interrogating a psychopath you don't want alerted to your purpose or the fact you're on to him/her/zir, then apply that sense of "Oh crap, this had better work or I'm next" to your writing.

I tend to be appalled with myself after I finish writing something in the horror venue.

Formatting wasn't something I wanted to emphasize since I'll be reformatting all the selected stories for the anthology anyway. We also haven't ever run a contest like this, so I wanted to keep the restrictions to a minimum to make sure we get enough entries.

With luck you'll get a good assortment of tales appropriate for the tradition of Samhain when the veils between worlds be thin.

Paul_Lulu wrote:Formatting wasn't something I wanted to emphasize since I'll be reformatting all the selected stories for the anthology anyway. We also haven't ever run a contest like this, so I wanted to keep the restrictions to a minimum to make sure we get enough entries.

In thinking of subtlety, I always remember the beginning of "Something Wicked this Way Comes," by Ray Bradbury. Somehow the idea of an old man wandering around selling lightning rods was suspenseful when he described it. It suggested a thing that was coming against which any possible protection would be a good move...

I thought about submitting a story that I started for a former coworker -- we had been discussing creative writing, and she liked the horror genre. Still, it just didn't seem to fit here...

My submission is likely too adult in nightmarish quality, but I sent it anyway.

Halloween incorporates a variety of traditions descended from different cultures, from Samhain to Day of the Dead to current.

Why not stick a toe in, the water's not chilly.

Skoob_Ym wrote:

In thinking of subtlety, I always remember the beginning of "Something Wicked this Way Comes," by Ray Bradbury. Somehow the idea of an old man wandering around selling lightning rods was suspenseful when he described it. It suggested a thing that was coming against which any possible protection would be a good move...

I thought about submitting a story that I started for a former coworker -- we had been discussing creative writing, and she liked the horror genre. Still, it just didn't seem to fit here...